Mid May - Much like above.. we're told that the Short Sale negotiator is working with the banks and that they are confident the deal will be approved.

We have 3 days to do this, and can back out of the contract (as sellers) if we get information we don't like.This is perfectly legal, and any buyer who is confident they are qualified should have no issue with this...

Long term, I'm pretty confident RE will beat the market, plus who knows where tax rates will be when it's time to start pulling money out of 401k's.I'll keep my exposure to the market, but it will not be my primary vehicle of choice, RE gets that honor now.Gotta keep tabs on the Net Worth so you can see if you've gotten off track and need to adjust.

I have absolutely no confidence in picking individual securities that are publicly traded primarily because of the lack of dividends.

That said it's worth researching because you'll develop a sense of confidence in the process at least to the point where you don't have to start with "dummy newbie".

Nothing gives you confidence like knowledge.

Today I am confident enough to make an offer, because I put in so much time to learn about all different things.

If the buyer is confident it will close have the earnest money non-refundable.Especially if you use hard money you will have costs waiting for it to close.They can always have the appraisal contingency in there.

Max, I PMed you...TOd, thanks for the welcome; I grew up in the States but have been living out of the country for a few years...I actually just had an offer accepted on a house...Im confident about the neighborhood, just had the inspections today and everything seems ok!

I called and called the agent tring to get an update, being $2000 over asking price I was pretty confident that I had a good shot at landing the deal.